Recent studies have linked obesity and chronic sleep loss, but scientists still don’t know how the two are related. Éva Szentirmai, M.D., Ph.D. (pictured above), an assistant professor in the College of Medical Sciences, is looking at brown fat to help find the answer. She and her colleagues recently received a five-year, $1.8 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to study this beneficial fat, which helps us burn the calories stored in white fat and regulates our body temperature.